A/N: What is this? An update? Unreal.

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"The drugs the Team found in the toys closely resemble the drugs Robin and I pulled off the street earlier this month on the South side. However, this batch seems to have progressed slightly further – testing shows them to be more potent and reliable than what we found being shuffled between Maroni's men. Clearly, these two instances are closely related and I believe that this man 'Deathstroke' could be the force behind the operation.

"I have launched an investigation here in Gotham, and Harper and Green Arrow have agreed to continue to look into the drug's movement in Star City. I would like to make myself very clear, Dick: I want you to stay out of this unless you are operating under my direction and in line with my efforts. If we are going to take this operation down before it gets too dangerous, I need a concentrated effort and not multiple side projects threatening to expose us at any moment. Do I make myself clear?"

Of course, Bruce had made himself very clear. What the man failed to grasp was the reason Dick often refused to listen to him was not for lack of clarity, but for lack of caring to follow directions on Dick's part. Even now, as he swung through Blüdhaven on a cool night in mid-May, Nightwing was returning to his apartment after an evening spent poking around the ruins of a destroyed underground lab in the heart of the city. A destroyed underground lab that Nightwing had definitely not been supposed to go to, were he following Bruce's clear directions. Lucky for Bruce, he hadn't been able to find a way in. Yet.

Nightwing was just landing atop the building a block from home, when an unexpected presence set the young hero's senses tingling. Sinking into a crouch, he slowly drew out his escrima sticks, the whites of his mask barely slits in the darkness.

"It's me." The voice was low and coarse, but feminine and familiar. Though Dick hadn't heard it unfiltered in a good deal of time.

"Are you following me?" Dick relaxed a bit and slowly stood up again.

"Hardly." Artemis materialized from the shadows near an air-conditioning unit, dressed in all black with a mask covering the bottom half of her face. Her gray eyes were uncovered, however, and were locked firmly on Dick's mask. "I've been waiting up here for nearly an hour."

"I do have a front door, you know. With a doorbell."

"Didn't know when Nightwing would be done with his late night extracurriculars."

"I also have a phone."

"Alright, Smart-ass. Can we just go inside and talk?"

If Artemis was surprised to find that Dick crawled through his own window as Nightwing, she didn't say anything.

"This place is surprisingly clean," the older hero observed, stepping through the window after Dick and glancing around the small living room and kitchen unit.

"You know Alfred," Dick shrugged, reaching around and closing the window behind Artemis.

Once the curtains were drawn shut, Dick reached up and removed his mask, crossing the room and opening the hidden closet in the wall, revealing a small stash of Nightwing suits and gear. He replaced the mask in a case on the side of the compartment and then collapsed in one of the two ratty armchairs Wally had given him for his birthday that year.

Artemis also pulled down her mask and claimed the couch, kicking her feet up on the coffee table and staring directly at Dick.

"So, what's up?" Dick finally asked, starting to undo the straps on his gloves.

"Oh, you know, was in the neighborhood and thought I'd stop by."

"I didn't even know you were back from California yet." Dick's left glove slid off his hand and he tossed it onto the table by Artemis's feet.

"We got back last night. Late. Otherwise we – he – would have called."

"Yeah?" Forcing himself to keep a neutral expression and tone of voice – and not betray the resentment he found bubbling under the surface at Artemis's explanation – Dick started undoing the clasps on his other glove.

"I didn't tell him I was coming to see you tonight."

"Why not?"

"I… wanted to talk to you first. Alone."

"Huh," Dick snorted. "I thought you just wanted to say 'hi'."

"Are you… mad at him?" Artemis asked cautiously, her eyes scanning Dick's face slowly and thoughtfully.

"Why would I be mad at him?" Dick tried and failed to keep the demanding tone from seeping into his voice.

"No idea. That's why I asked you." Artemis's eyes suddenly fell to Dick's hands as he finished removing his right glove and the glinting metal of the limb flashed in the dim light from the lamp near the TV.

Dick didn't normally feel self-conscious of his hand around Artemis; they'd been close friends for a long time and she'd seen it plenty over the years, but was surprised to find a sudden desire to cover the metal appendage as the archer's eyes rested on it. Rising quickly, he turned back to the small alcove behind him and tossed both gloves inside before grabbing his black wrist brace from where he'd left it lying on a shelf.

"I don't want to get between you and Wally," Artemis finally said, before Dick had fully turned around again. "That's not why I'm here."

"Yeah, you still haven't told me that part yet." Dick sat back down and slid the brace on, tightening it quickly.

For a moment, Dick thought Artemis would tell him then and there, without any more preamble, but then she narrowed her eyes and glanced suspiciously around the room.

"Go change first," she finally announced. "I'll lock the door."

Giving the archer a suspicious look, Dick sighed a bit and rose from his chair again. "It's already locked," he muttered, but Artemis didn't acknowledge him.

Once Dick returned from his room wearing normal civilian clothes, Artemis looked more at ease, splayed across the couch as she scrolled absently through her phone.

"Will you now finally tell me what's going on?" Dick asked, once again resuming his position across from the girl.

"Yeah, of course." Artemis smiled. "But first, how are you? I haven't seen you since, like, Christmas break, and that was barely to say hello before we were off on that mission to Santa Prisca…."

"That was a mess."

"It was the kid's fault."

"Don't tell me Wally's dislike for Jason has rubbed off on you…."

"I've never liked Jason; he's an ass."

"He's my little brother!"

"Heard he's not so little anymore."

Dick rolled his eyes. "He's sixteen now. You were also an ass when you were sixteen."

"Yeah, that's why I don't like him. He reminds me of me." But Artemis was smirking now.

"Anyways," she continued. "Enough about Jason. I asked about you. How's life on your own? And how's working for the cops?" The last part held a barely-concealed hint of disgust.

"I'm fine." Dick paused a moment and let his gaze fall to his hands in his lap, debating how and what to tell Artemis. "Not living with Bruce has been good – for both of us I think. Interning at the BPD has been good too. I think I might even want to go to the academy next year…. Though…." Dick paused again and found he couldn't meet the archer's eye. "The past few weeks haven't been real good for my rookie image. I got sent home early last week and was asked to take the rest of the week off too…."

"What? Why?" Artemis was sitting up straight now, staring holes into Dick's head.

"I guess I was… distracted, by… you know, everything that's been going on with Bruce and Gotham. And my hand has been acting up recently." Dick looked up to find Artemis still glaring at him, but more thoughtfully now.

"Your hand?"

Dick raised his bad hand slightly. "I told Bruce I'd go see Leslie-"

"Yeah, you should do that," Artemis interjected. "Why didn't you go as soon as it started… doing whatever it's been doing."

"I was busy." Dick shrugged, tucking the damaged arm back against his chest. "And I couldn't afford to be put out of commission, right now, with everything that's been going on…."

"If you don't do anything about it soon, you may not have a choice, Sherlock," Artemis snapped.

"Okay, yeah, I know I've been stupid." Glaring angrily, Dick hunched a bit more in on himself. This was the third time in the past two weeks his friends and family had berated him for apparent negligence and frankly, he was done with it. He was eighteen, he knew how to take care of himself!

Sighing, Artemis leaned closer. "I came here because I want to help you."

"By telling me I suck at taking care of myself? Because I've heard that enough already, thank you very much."

"Why are you made at me, Dick?"

"I'm not mad-"

"Then why do you keep yelling at me whenever I open my mouth?"

Taking a deep breath, Dick willed himself to calm down. Exploding at his best friend was not going to make him feel better – or feel any less mad. It wasn't like she intentionally left him to go off to college, that's just what happened. And she deserved it. She was smart, really smart, and Dick had been nearly as thrilled as she had been when she'd been accepted into Stanford. Nearly as thrilled, except for the fact that Palo Alto was all the way across the country from Gotham and it was kind of hard to do hero work when you were studying at one of the most prestigious schools in the world….

"I'm sorry, Artemis. I've missed you and Wally a lot."

"I've missed you too, Birdbrain." Smiling, Artemis relaxed a bit. "And I did come to help you. I know what's been going on with the drugs in Gotham and Star City…. Or, some of it. And I know you've been poking around Blüdhaven and…. I saw you tonight at the site of the… lab. Do you think this is related?"

Shrugging, Dick tried to maintain a nonchalant attitude. "Bruce does."

"And you agree?"

"Maybe. I'm not sure yet."

"Hmmm," Artemis hummed, analyzing Dick for a long moment. "Why don't you trust Bruce to figure this out? Why risk another fight with him?"

There was something in Artemis's tone that wasn't accusing and so instead of exploding again, Dick frowned at the girl, trying to pick apart what she was looking for from him.

"Because this is about me," he finally announced. "Because it's… personal. This very well could be the man who drugged me and held me captive for three months of my life. The man who nearly destroyed Robin and who has permanently messed me up."

"That's why Bruce wants you to stay away from it."

"And it's exactly why I can't. I'm not the thirteen-year-old kid I was last time. I don't need saving. I… can do this."

"Not on your own." Artemis didn't look upset; if anything, she looked… intrigued. Curious. There was a glint in her eye Dick hadn't seen since they were teenagers sneaking out together to poke their noses around a city desperate for their blood.

So Dick shrugged, leveling his gaze at her, eyes flashing, as if daring her to take the next step. "You know how it goes: get on board or get out of way."

Artemis smirked. "There's the Wonder Boy I know. I was worried working with the law had made you soft and complacent."

Dick snorted. "I'm made of so much metal at this point that I couldn't be soft if I tried."

"I bet Barbara loves that about you."

Somewhere, in the far recesses of Dick's brain, the mention of Barbara sent a small twinge through his consciousness. Maybe it was because it was Artemis mentioning Barbara. Maybe it was because he hadn't returned the redhead's phone calls in a few too many days. He hadn't wanted another voice berating him for his poor self-preservation.

Mentally shaking those thoughts from his mind, promising to revisit them at a later date, maybe, Dick crossed his arms and put on his best version of the batglare. "What will it be?"

"You think I came all this way to watch you have all the fun?"

And for the first time in weeks, Dick felt a tightness in his chest loosen, just a bit. For the first time in weeks, he didn't feel quite as isolated, quite as… alone.

oOo

The next week Dick didn't see much of Artemis. An occasional text mentioning a new bit of gossip she'd picked up on the streets that may or may not pertain to the drugs case, or an invitation to meet up with Wally for brunch on Saturday (which Dick grudgingly agreed to). But beyond that, radio silence. They had both agreed to spend the week gathering intel separately: Artemis in Gotham and Dick in Bludhaven and through the police department. Staying on the downlow was necessary if they were to keep Batman off their tails and Artemis needed time to get her life figured out back in Gotham.

Dick didn't mind taking it slow; it was nice enough just knowing he wasn't alone anymore and he found that he was grateful for the time and headspace to get back to life at the station. Jason texted him and called him a couple times and Dick answered the second the call. Jason informed him that he'd noticed Artemis prowling around Gotham and that Bruce was unhappy about it because it's still his city, even if she lives in it. Jason also complained about school a bit and about Bruce a lot and mentioned that Alfred wanted Dick to come over for dinner again and Dick said yeah, sure, sometime.

After two days back at work and feeling more like himself and less broken, Dick called Barbara back and she said she wanted to see him, so he agreed. They spent a night together and it was fine, but something felt off. He spent most of the time thinking about the most recent piece of gossip Artemis had sent his way and Barbara noticed, but he pretended it was work stress.

Saturday came sooner than Dick would have liked, and he found himself dressed in jeans and a hoodie, looking like a teenage boy for the first time in a long time. Looking at himself in the mirror, he realized he needed a haircut; ever since working at the BPD he'd kept his hair shorter than normal, but it was starting to approach the length where Alfred would tell him he looked "shaggy". Promising himself he'd make an appointment for the next week, Dick threw on a jacket because it was raining and grabbed his bike keys and helmet before heading down the stairs of his apartment building.

The ride to Sunnyside Café where he was meeting Wally and Artemis was short, but the rain was steady enough that Dick felt significantly damp by the time he pulled in. Scowling, he dismounted his bike and headed towards the door. He hated the rain; aside from it making patrols suck and the mood depressing, storms nearly always brought back pain from old injuries. As he made his way in the restaurant, Dick knew he was limping, his bad leg sore and tender.

"Dick, over here!"

Looking across the restaurant, Dick saw Wally waving from a booth in the back corner. Forcing a smile on his face, he made his way across the tiled floor, nodding at a cute waitress as he passed. The booth Wally and Artemis were sitting in was nestled against two large windows; Artemis scooted closer to the window so Dick could join her across from Wally.

"Good to see you again, Bud!" Wally had a huge smile on his face, and he reached across the table for a high five from Dick.

"You too, Wall-man. What's new?"

"Not much just yet; I start my internship at Star Labs this Monday so I've just been hanging around Central since I got back. What about you?"

Dick shrugged, glancing briefly at Artemis. "Same old, same old. Have you put the tights back on yet?"

If possible, Wally's smile got even bigger. "Yeah! Barry and I ran around a few times this week. I gotta tell you man, nothing beats it."

"We got you coffee," Artemis chimed in, shoving a ceramic cup at Dick's elbow. He picked up the coffee and took a small sip. The warmth felt nice.

"Waitress said she'd be back to take our orders once you got here," Wally added. And then, as if seeing Dick for the first time: "Why're you all wet dude?"

"You know how you make me feel," Dick joked, winking at the speedster.

"Gross," Artemis groaned. Then, putting a hand on Dick's arm and feeling the damp of his jacket, grimaced. "Did you bike here?"

Dick meekly held up his helmet and shrugged.

"You know I have a car; I could have picked you up."

"A little rain never hurt anyone." Except it did hurt him, Dick thought.

Artemis and Wally exchanged a glance that probably meant they were thinking the same thing, but neither said anything.

And then their waitress appeared, the same one Dick had winked at on his way in, and took their orders. Conversation slowly started flowing and they drifted between topics of work, school, family, and late-night extracurriculars. Much to his relief, Dick found conversation between Wally and Artemis almost natural, almost like it used to be before they left. Sure, there were awkward moments where one of them realized that there were pieces of their lives the others didn't know about yet, or questions were asked that sparked uncomfortable answers. But it was almost easy, and Dick had learned over the years that almost easy was about as easy as it would ever get for him.

Wally was just about to start on his fifth piece of pie, rambling on about a conversation he had overheard while patrolling with Barry the night before about a new drug getting pedaled around the East Coast (Dick and Artemis exchanged glances and were listening attentively), when the bell on the door rang. Looking back, Dick wasn't sure what made him swivel in his seat to check out the new arrivals, but some sixth sense set the hairs on his neck on end and sent a chill down his spine as he turned.

Two men and a woman were standing in the doorway, black jackets dripping with rain. The woman had a baseball cap pulled down low, casting her face in shadows, but her wild mane of dark hair stuck out from the cap like a dozen angry snakes. Her companions were both tall and well-built, one wearing a ski-mask over his face and one with his hood pulled up, white-blonde hair peeking out and reflecting the fluorescent café lights. As the waitress approached, the masked man's face started moving, speaking words Dick couldn't hear over the cheesy pop music filtering from above their booth. He pointed a hand towards the kitchen and the waitress, looking nervous, hurried away.

Slowly turning back around, Dick caught Wally and Artemis's eyes and mouthed "bad news". Wally nodded, having a clear view of the new visitors and Artemis quirked an eyebrow, hand going to rest on a backpack propped on the booth next to her. As Dick started to rise, planning to pretend to head towards the bathroom in order to get a better view of front door, Wally's eyes got wide and he made a slicing motion across his throat before holding up his fingers like a gun.

"Shit," Artemis hissed under her breath and Dick felt her tense beside him.

A gunshot tore through the air, cracking violently through the diluted music, and a few screams followed. Dick ducked back behind the booth, sticking his head around the side. The man with the hood had a gun pointed at the ceiling, his companion with the mask grasping the scruff of the shirt of a round-faced, mustached man who Dick thought must have been the café owner.

"Everyone get the hell out of here, right now!" The woman shrieked, starting to walk up and down the aisle of tables and booths. The three other small groups of guests were on their feet and rushing towards the door without a backwards glance, one woman crying and another man yelping as he sprinted for the exit.

Dick whipped his head back behind the booth, Wally and Artemis both ducked down as well. The woman would approach their table any second. While normally Dick would look favorably upon their odds, they were civilians at the moment, unarmed except for the utility belt Dick still took everywhere with him and whatever Artemis had in her backpack. But the belt was a dead Nightwing giveaway and Wally was Wally right now and not Kid Flash and these kooks had at least one gun and it was raining and Dick was sore, so he docked their odds down significantly. Still, there was no way in hell any of them were about to bail and leave the café owner to get threatened and maybe shot.

When Dick heard the woman's footsteps against the tile within what he judged was a couple feet, he threw himself from the booth, twisting around and colliding with her head-on. Her baseball cap flew off and they both tumbled to the floor, Dick on top, fighting to restrain her arms.

"Oi!" One of the men at the front started shouting and Dick hoped it wasn't the one with the gun. "Get off of her!"

Another gunshot went off, but Wally was already running past Dick, vaulting over a table and hopefully tackling the gunman. The woman underneath Dick lashed out and managed to knee the vigilante in the stomach, expelling the air from Dick's body and forcing him to momentarily relax his grip. Another well-placed kick collided with the brace on Dick's knee and he was unable to contain the gasp of pain as a heavy boot struck his already-sore leg. The woman attempted to use Dick's pain to her advantage and roll his body off of her. Allowing his assailant to flip him on his back, Dick wrapped an arm around her body and pulled her on top him, one arm securing her arms and one arm going to her neck.

"Artemis," Dick grunted, struggling to keep his hold on the flailing body in his arms. "Call the cops."

"Already on it, Wonder Boy," Artemis yelled, and there was a crash from somewhere near the front of the store.

Allowing himself a moment of remorse for what he was about to do, Dick repositioned his grip and then violently threw himself and the woman to the left, rolling onto his side and sending her head into the solid wooden bottom of a booth. She was out instantly, a solid thunk signifying her loss of consciousness. Dick quickly extricated himself and turned to find Wally bashing the gunman's hand against the door in an attempt to disarm him and Artemis dodging a metal baseball bat in the hands of the hooded man. His hood had fallen off and he was sporting a long gash in one cheek, blood smeared across his lower face.

Dick was across the room in seconds, using a table as a springboard to launch himself feet first into Artemis's opponent. The man grunted in surprise and pain, launched forward into the checkout counter. Dick rolled to his feet and launched himself a second time at the man, before he could get his bearings, and latched onto the hand holding the bat.

"You little brat," the man growled, long blonde hair tangled around a harsh face. He made to yank his hand out of Dick's, but Dick tightened his grip, intending to twist his opponent's wrist and force him to drop his weapon. Only, Dick's hand refused to cooperate and instead he found his fingers locking up as a sharp pain shot down his arm.

The vigilante swore as blondie delivered a hooked punch to his left cheek, sending him careening to the floor. Artemis was there in an instant, and so was Wally, and by the time Dick had stood up, all three perpetrators were unconscious.

"What the hell was that?" Wally rounded on Dick, a mix of anger and concern flashing across his face.

"I…."

Dick was spared from responding by the sound of sirens outside, signaling the arrival of the badges. Wally's look told him the conversation wasn't over.

Knowing the names of two of the cops who showed up, both of whom he had done some work for in the past, meant that Dick was able to spare the three of them a formal briefing. Instead, there were asked for any information they had on the perpetrators, what they overheard, who was involved, oh you don't know anything, okay you can go. They all got strict admonishments to be more careful and not try to take the law into their own hands because they were not vigilantes, but good work regardless. Dick managed to cajole one officer into texting him what they found out after interviews and then they were dismissed.

"Just another day in the 'Haven, huh," Wally shrugged once they were outside in the parking lot, away from the scene. It was still drizzling a bit.

"Does this happen to you every time you go out for brunch?" Artemis asked, leaning against her old yellow pickup truck.

"I avoid going out to brunch for this reason."

Wally let out a laugh before suddenly sobering up. "What happened in there?"

Dick shrugged, pretending to not understand what Wally meant. "The owner probably owed those guys some money or something. Nearly everyone's a little crooked here."

"Not what I meant, dude."

"Do you mean the part where I got to tackle the hot criminal woman and you didn't?"

Now Artemis let out a snort of amusement and Dick couldn't help the way his lips twitched upward just a hair.

"I meant how did Mr. Baseball manage to land a punch on you when you had him pinned?"

Deciding to take the path of least resistant, Dick shrugged again. "Rainy days are my kryptonite."

Artemis was crossing the distance between them and before Dick realized what she was doing, the archer had snatched his right hand and was pushing down his jacket sleeve.

"Artemis, what – ow!"

"What the hell, Dick!" She hissed, eyes raking over his hand and wrist.

Wincing, Dick looking down at his hand as well. While his brace covered most of his wrist and hand, what part was visible didn't look too great. The metal was warped and bent in areas, and the hand itself was pathetically curled inwards, the fingers stiff and unmoving.

"I thought you were going to get this fixed, dumbass!"

Wally had moved closer and was staring at the damaged appendage as well, eyes widening a bit and mouth falling open just slightly. "That doesn't look good, dude."

Suddenly, and strangely, self-conscious, Dick pulled his hand back from Artemis's grip. "I have an appointment with Leslie next week – or I will have one."

"I can't believe you've been patrolling like that," Artemis growled, crossing her arms again and glaring. "Can you even move it?"

Clenching his fist gently, to prove his point, Dick nodded. "Yeah, it's not as bad as it looks. It just locks up sometimes – I think a circuit's getting shorted somewhere. And the weather doesn't help."

Wally shook his head and Dick fought down the urge to yell, to scream at his best friend not to treat him like a broken doll. A buzz from his phone drew away his attention and saved him a battle with his self-control.

'Talked to the owner. sounds like his shop was a cover for a drug op and he got cold feet. Commish thinks it's related to those cases you were digging into last week. Got more info at the station when you come in tom.'

Dick shot Artemis what he hoped was a meaningful look.

"Your cop buddy?" Wally asked, bouncing a bit on his feet like he was holding himself back from reading over Dick's shoulder.

"Yeah…." But Dick's mind was a hundred miles away as plans started to form for who Nightwing was going to visit tonight. Previous anger at Wally forgotten, Dick shoved his helmet on and dug in his pocket for his bike's keys. "Hey, I gotta go. Thanks for brunch, it was good to see you again…. I'll text you if I learn anything interesting. "

"Uhh, ok dude. Good to see you to, I guess…." Wally watched Dick mount his bike, confusion written across his face.

Dick held Artemis's gaze for a moment as he revved the engine on his bike. For whatever reason, for the first time in weeks, Dick had a good feeling about something. Or at least, as good a feeling as one can have when dealing with drug lords and supervillains. With a final nod to his friends, Dick sped off, the tightness in his chest loosening just a bit more.